ZERO-ONE Truth Century Creation 2001 - 02/03/2001
Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Naomichi Marufuji
This was a mighty fun opener to kick off a fun promotion (at least for the first ten years of its existence). And similar to everything early Z1 was about, this was interpromotional (Michi Pro vs NOAH) and a clash of styles. Marufuji was raw but lighting quick which made him a tough challenge for Hoshikikawa who had trouble even getting him to stay on the ground to grab a hold on him. Hoshikawa would try to blast Marufuji with kicks to counter this and it would lead to an exciting match. ***1/4
Akitoshi Saito vs. Tadahiro Fujisaki
Fujisaki looked and acted like a wild man. He had a one arm singlet and growled a lot. Saito is Saito and destroys Fujisaki after indulging in the gimmick for a short while. A brutal Uranage and an even harder enziguri was all he needed.
Shinjiro Otani vs. Kazunari Murakami
If the RINGS style was trying to emulate the Pancrase style, ZERO-ONE’s style of works were more Pride. Scrappy and violent with not much skill past sure will to survive. Otani isn't cut out for this style, I don't think, but he goes all out to try to win by blitzing Murakami straight away. Murakami comes back and puts him down. Awesome, short scrap. ***
Shinya Hashimoto & Yuji Nagata vs. Jun Akiyama & Mitsuharu Misawa
This had electric energy. Each wrestler got an amazing reaction, culminating with a red hot Shinya Hashimoto coming out. The match was able to carry that atmosphere but develop it with some great character work from Akiyama and Hashimoto, plus some snappy tag team wrestling that allowed everyone to shine. Hashimoto shockingly took the fall despite Nagata on his team who is the lesser of the four - no disrespect intended. This called a malee between everyone who could fit into the ring. ****
ZERO-ONE Truth Century Creation II - 18/04/2001
Takashi Sugiura vs. Alexander Otsuka
Sugiura was terrific in this. He absolutely schooled Otsuka on the mat with his aggression and skill. Otsuka got some of the more dangerous holds in but Suigura led almost all the exchanges and escaped the guillotines easily enough by shifting his (and Otsuka’s hip) upwards. The match wasn’t filled with high spots but the grappling was simple and compelling. The headbutt exchange leading to the blood helped give the match its reputation, but the quality came from Sugiura working the mat. ***1/2
Masao Inoue & Tamon Honda vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Tadao Yasuda
Fun match but the weird finish and lack of truly quality moments keep this back for me. The Honda/Hashimoto exchanges are good and I wish we’d get more from them but there is some charm to the Inoue and Hashimoto stuff too. Inoue’s bumps are weird for Hashimoto’s strikes but I wouldn’t expect anything different from him. Yasuda’s involvement was harmless despite his poor reputation as a worker. The match was perfectly watchable, and could be described as a solid semi main event involving one big star and 3 moderately popular acts. ***
Mitsuharu Misawa & Takeshi Rikio vs. Kazunari Murakami & Naoya Ogawa
Where was this RIkio when he won the GHC Heavyweight title? When he tackled Murakami, the place exploded. Murakami got the better of him, naturally but Rikio held his own in these shining moments of the match. The Ogawa v Misawa stuff was pretty rocking in terms of atmosphere but the spots could've been better. Misawa in this environment though is interesting. That’s what I’ll say. ***
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